Stuart James was at the Liberty, and here’s his report:
And that’s your lot on a very good day for Chelsea and Southampton, not such a productive one for Swansea and Liverpool. Ta-ta!
Antonio Conte speaks! “It was a good win. If we want to keep hope of a place in the Champions League, we have to win every game. Today, it wasn’t easy. They are fighting to avoid relegation, and in England every game you must be prepared to fight. We could have been more clinical and killed the game, but it can happen. The only way to put pressure on Tottenham was to win the game.”
Carlos Carvahal speaks! “We played against a strong team. And we played them like a strong team. After putting more players in attack, we started to cause them problems. And we should have had a penalty in my opinion. In general we played with quality, our emotional control was high and we tried to move the ball right and left. It is not easy against Chelsea, they are very strong and physical. We deserved a little more, but our performance gives us confidence. The most important thing is the score, but the way we tried to win is important also. We are in a good position still. We have things in our hand. We must continue to do what we did today, and we will cause problems to the teams in our last three games.”
Gary Cahill and Cesc Fabregas are interviewed by BT Sport. Cahill: “It was tough. They needed a result and pushed hard at the end. They made it difficult. But we needed it, dug in, and got the result. We’ve done our job, and now we will try to win every game this season, and see where it leaves us.”
Fabregas: “We started well and were quite comfortable. We should have controlled the last few minutes better, but everyone is fighting for their lives and every game is a final. We have to show our pride and put pressure on [Liverpool and Spurs]. In football, anything can happen, and so if it happens, we must be there to take advantage.”
Here’s how it affects the teams. Bottom first. Swansea remain in 17th position, but they’re now only a point above Southampton, who beat Bournemouth earlier today. Stoke, who earned a fine point at Liverpool, are a further three points back, and they’ve played a game more. West Brom also won today, at Newcastle, to keep their slim hopes of a miraculous escape alive. Misery for the Swans.
Chelsea will be cock-a-hoop, though. Their third Premier League win on the bounce has moved them to within two points of fourth-placed Tottenham, though Spurs have a game in hand. Liverpool could also be overhauled: they’re six clear of Chelsea, but have played a game more, and the two sides meet at Stamford Bridge next weekend. Liverpool have 17 goals on Chelsea, though, so chances are they’ll need to drop points at home to Brighton in the last game of the season if Conte’s men are to leapfrog Klopp’s. But a top-four finish is a realistic prospect now: they’re putting the pressure on Spurs and Liverpool.
FULL TIME: Swansea City 0-1 Chelsea
And that’s that! Chelsea close the gap on Tottenham and Liverpool in the race for the Champions League. Swansea meanwhile are looking over their shoulder, with Southampton now just one point behind.
90 min +4: Cahill wants Ayew sent off; the Swansea striker barged into Cahill with some passion. But the referee does nothing.
90 min +3: Cahill goes down in an off-the-ball incident with Jordan Ayew. Then gets up and instigates a shoving match.
90 min +2: As does the second. This game is petering out.
90 min +1: The first of three added minutes passes without too much drama.
90 min: Andrew Ayew and Routledge combine well down the inside-left channel. Routledge has the ball at his feet inside the area. He slams towards the bottom left, but doesn’t catch it properly and Courtois gathers with confidence. Swansea are certainly giving it a go during these closing minutes, but they look so blunt up front.
88 min: Carroll latches onto a poor Cahill headed clearance. From the left of the D, he sidefoots hard towards the bottom right. But it’s always curling a couple of inches wide. A lot of heads in hands around the Liberty, though, because for a split second that looked like it might go in.
87 min: Mawson gives the ball to Willian on the halfway line. Chelsea are three on three. Mawson gets back to pester Willian and ruin Chelsea’s rhythm. The ball’s spread to Pedro on the left, but he’s offside.
86 min: Dyer reaches the byline out on the right. His deep cross very nearly finds Routledge, but Moses wins the aerial battle. Swansea come again, Mawson sending a daisycutter goalwards from wide on the left. Courtois’s handling is impeccable.
85 min: Morata comes on for Giroud.
83 min: Moses bursts down the right and very nearly finds Giroud, six yards out. But Fabianski claims well.
81 min: And then Olsson is replaced by Routledge. Swansea are going all-out attack now.
80 min: Fabregas and Hazard are exchanged for Pedro and Willian.
78 min: Naughton has a lash from distance. Courtois gathers. Then Swansea come again. Cahill slides in on Dyer, just inside the Chelsea box. It’s perfectly timed, though Swansea wanted a penalty. But Cahill got the ball.
77 min: Swansea may have decided to go for it now. Andre Ayew drops a shoulder, cuts in from the right, and sends a curler towards the top left. If that was on target, it was in ... but it doesn’t curl back enough.
76 min: Carroll spins into space down the right and crosses deep. Olsson, coming in from the other side, shoots low, but Azpilicueta is there to block.
74 min: Chelsea go down the other end and nearly wrap it up. Hazard and Fabregas cause bother down the inside-right channel. The ball squirts to Moses, six yards out. He tries to guide it into the bottom right, but it spins violently wide of the right-hand post and out for a goal kick. All in slow motion. How did that stay out?
Updated
72 min: Dyer one-twos with Carroll down the right, then bursts into the Chelsea box. He fires low across the face of goal; Azpilicueta slides the ball out for a corner on the right. From the set piece, Courtois flaps. Jordan Ayew tries to eyebrow a header over a melee and into the net ... but sends it over the bar.
71 min: Emerson goes on a marathon run from the left wing, inside his own half, to the right of the Swansea D. He shoots towards the bottom right. Fabianski smothers.
69 min: Azpilicueta, dropping deep down the right, curls a perfect cross onto the head of Hazard, who is lurking on the penalty spot. Hazard flashes a header straight at Fabianski. He was offside anyway, which is just as well: that would have gone down as a bad miss, so sweet was the cross.
68 min: Bakayoko drags a wild shot left of the target from 20 yards.
67 min: Giroud, Fabregas and Hazard make their way upfield at speed, raking long-range diagonal passes to each other as they zig-zag towards the Swansea box. But Naughton does very well to hold Hazard up down the left.
65 min: A free kick for Swansea out on the left. Ki swings it long towards Dyer, who is being marked by the significantly larger Giroud. The outcome is pretty much as you’d expect.
64 min: Swansea make their second change: Carroll comes on for Roberts.
62 min: Azpilicueta flicks a lovely reverse pass down the right to release Fabregas into a lot of space. Fabregas has time to consider his options, but inexplicably blooters his cross straight at van der Hoorn. Swansea clear their lines.
60 min: A poor pass out to Rudiger from Courtois forces the defender to hack into the stand in a panic. Good pressing by Swansea. It leads to nought, but it’s another small example of the hosts’ renewed energy and determination. Courtois still hasn’t had a save of note to make, mind.
58 min: The first change of the evening is made by Swansea City. King is replaced by Dyer.
57 min: Hazard dawdles down the left before flicking the ball inside for Emerson, who lashes a shot-cum-cross straight at Fabianski.
55 min: Chelsea finally get the ball back and nearly punish Swansea on a quick break. Hazard slips the ball wide right for Moses, who tries to roll the ball inside for the adventurous Azpilicueta in the centre. The pass is intercepted. So nearly number two, though.
54 min: A good period of possession for Swansea. They don’t really trouble Chelsea with it, but it’s a confidence builder, perhaps. They’ve been a lot quicker in their actions since the restart.
52 min: Emerson makes good down the left and stands one up in the middle. Mawson heads clear under pressure from a couple of blue shirts. This is a good end-to-end game, all of a sudden.
51 min: This is much better from Swansea. Olsson hugs the touchline on the left, then whips high and hard into the Chelsea area. Jordan Ayew gets a head to it. His powerful effort flicks off Rudiger. The referee misses the deflection, so it’s a goal kick.
50 min: Hazard runs at speed towards the Swansea back line. He lays off to Giroud, expecting a crisp clipped return as he breaks into the box. But Giroud lazily wafts his leg at the ball, sending it sailing gently towards Fabianski. Swansea were light at the back there; Giroud should have been a lot more businesslike.
48 min: Ki slides the free kick down the right for Clucas, who aims a cross deep for Mawson. But there’s some shoving the box, and the whistle peeps.
47 min: Bakayoko sticks a leg across Jordan Ayew. A free kick out on the right, and a chance for Swansea to load the box.
It’s the second half! Swansea get the party started again. No changes.
Half-time reading:
HALF TIME: Swansea City 0-1 Chelsea
As things stand, Champions League football is a very real prospect for Chelsea again next season. Championship football could be Swansea’s fate, unless they get their act together.
45 min: Olsson breaks down the left. Had he lifted his head to take a look around, he’d have spotted Clucas tearing free down the middle, screaming for the ball. But he didn’t. Eventually it comes, but far too late, and Bakayoko comes across to cover and hack clear. That’s a real chance spurned. Chelsea were wide open for a while there.
44 min: Swansea stroke it around the back awhile, and Chelsea are quite happy to let them do it, because they’re going nowhere. “Jon Moss has certainly made a few odd decisions,” begins Matt Dony, “but they have helped and hindered both sides, so kind of evened out. Maybe he’s a Karma Chameleon.”
42 min: It is tipping down in Swansea, by the way. Stair rods.
Updated
41 min: Swansea pin Chelsea back for the first time in the match, though they can’t work a route into the box. Andre Ayew dribbles with some purpose down the right. Then Ki tries to bustle through the middle. Nothing doing. Chelsea’s shape isn’t shifting.
39 min: Olsson wins another free kick of Moses down the left. There wasn’t a lot in that. Moses will probably need to watch himself, even though he’s done very little wrong. The solid-looking Emerson sends the set piece away from danger.
37 min: Clucas is fortunate to escape yellow - by the standards of the Ayew and Moses bookings - for a late clip on Moses. I can’t imagine either team will be particularly happy with the referee’s eccentric performance so far. It’s been a proper free-form jazz piece by Jon Moss.
35 min: Fabergas is a cut above everyone else on the pitch today. He’s running the show in the middle of the park. He’s inches away from releasing Hazard down the left with a beautiful long pass, but last man van der Hoorn intercepts.
33 min: Fabregas floats a pass forward for Giroud, who cushions a header down towards Hazard on the Swansea penalty spot. Hazard’s shot is blocked, and it turns out Giroud was offside anyway, but not by very much at all. Still, a correct decision, so credit where it’s due.
31 min: The referee is all over the place. Now he books Moses for a clip on Olsson, who was dribbling his way down the Swansea left. It was a free kick, but no more than that. Ki curls the set piece straight at Courtois.
Updated
29 min: Hazard releases the ever-excellent Moses down the right. Moses threads a glorious ball across the face of goal. Naughton opts to let it go, instead of trying to hack it clear. Somehow it evades all the blue shirts in the box.
27 min: Thing is, Swansea can’t afford to have decisions like that go the wrong way. Chelsea have otherwise been in complete control of this match, every inch the sort of side who should be in the Champions League next season. Swansea need every little thing they can get.
25 min: Andre Ayew dribbles down the middle of the park, and is clipped by Kante, just outside the area. The referee Jon Moss gives a free kick to Chelsea! That’s one of the daftest decisions you’ll see in a good while. On the bench, Carlos Carvahal guffaws incredulously. The crowd meantime accuse Moss of onanist tendencies in song. That was preposterous.
23 min: King has a speculative effort from 20 yards, having cut in from the left. It’s not much cop. Something is better than nothing, though. Swansea haven’t really troubled Chelsea at all.
21 min: Chelsea play some delightfully crisp triangles up the pitch. The majority of the team are involved. Swansea are mesmerised. Eventually Fabregas bursts into the area from the right, causing all sorts of bother. Mawson hacks at the ball, and slices it backwards, over Fabianski and nearly into his own net. The ball shaves the crossbar. The corner comes to nothing.
19 min: A loose pass by Cahill gives Clucas the chance to run at the Chelsea defence. Ki gets involved too. But neither can get a shot away, and Kante arrives to put a stop to the nonsense.
18 min: Hazard floats the corner into the mixer. Giroud eyebrows it on. Rudiger, running in at the far post, only just fails to make contact. Anything on that, and it was 0-2, but Swansea breathe again.
17 min: Moses romps into the Swansea box from the right, past Olsson with ease. He curls towards the top left. It’s going in, until Mawson gets his body in the way. The ball’s deflected out for a corner on the left.
15 min: Andre Ayew clatters into Emerson down the Chelsea left. It looks like a garden-variety foul, but the referee brandishes yellow. The home fans, already simmering, are now on a rolling boil.
14 min: Olsson swings a deep cross into the Chelsea box from the left. Roberts is coming in from the other wing, hoping to meet it with his head. Emerson does very well to ensure Roberts’ plan comes to nought.
12 min: Moses skedaddles down the right and rolls the ball inside for Hazard, who might have troubled Fabianski from 12 yards had he not slipped on the slippery, rain-soaked pitch. There’s a nice open feel to this game, which will probably benefit the visitors more than the hosts.
10 min: Jordan Ayew and Mawson exchange crisp passes on the edge of the Chelsea box. Bakayoko steps in to clear but slams into Mawson’s ankle. It’s a rash challenge, so close to his own goal, but the referee doesn’t think it’s a free kick. The home fans are not impressed.
8 min: Swansea, to their credit, have responded to falling behind by buzzing around with great purpose. They’re seeing plenty of the ball, if nothing else. Roberts makes a bit of space down the right but his centre doesn’t go anywhere near a teammate.
6 min: Swansea were sliced open with ridiculous ease there. The home fans try to lift their team with a loyal roar, but this could be a long afternoon for the Swans.
GOAL! Swansea City 0-1 Chelsea (Fabregas 4)
Loose control from King in the middle of the park is pounced on by Hazard. He bursts down the middle, and lays off to Fabregas, just to the right of the D. Fabregas opens his body, and curls a delicious first-time shot into the top left. Fabianski had no chance! What a start by Chelsea!
Updated
2 min: A fine atmosphere at the Liberty. No wonder, with so much on the line. Ki looks to break down the right and is upended by Bakayoko. An early chance to swing one into the Chelsea box and see what the travelling defence is made of. But the set piece is an aimless waste of time. The ball’s soon in the arms of Courtois.
And we’re off! Chelsea get the ball rolling, as the home fans belt out their hymns and arias.
The teams are out! Swansea are in their pristine white, Chelsea their famous blue. We’ll be off in a minute. Before kick off, the Liberty paid its respect to Roy Bentley, who died last week. Bentley’s goals fired Chelsea to their first-ever league title, back in 1955, and he went on to manage Swansea in the late 1960s and early 1970s. A fond farewell to the last surviving member of England’s 1950 World Cup squad. RIP.
Updated
Carlos Carvahal is asked by BT Sport, admittedly during a feature recorded before today’s results, if Swansea will stay up. “Yes.”
Antonio Conte speaks! “We have to try to win every game. This is the only hope to take a place in the Champions League. We have to start today, and that won’t be easy against Swansea. We want to finish our season in the top four. Giroud and Morata are in good form. I’ve decided to try with Ollie today, but we will see how he does in the game.”
If Swansea weren’t already feeling the pressure, the results from the 3pm kick-offs will have really given them the fear. West Brom won at Newcastle, while Southampton beat Bournemouth in the big south-coast derby. Throw in Stoke’s point at Anfield in the lunchtime match and the climate is closing in on the Swans. They go into this game five clear of West Brom, three clear of Stoke and just a point clear of the Saints. They really could do with something from this match to lift the mood around the place. Of course after today they’ll still have a game in hand over West Brom and Stoke, and have yet to welcome Stoke and Saints to the Liberty. But you can’t be taking any chances. It’s a big ask to get something out of in-form Champions League chasers Chelsea, though. It could be a nervy evening for the hosts.
Swansea, without a win in six, make two changes to the team hammered at champions Manchester City last weekend. Tom Carroll drops to the bench, while Federico Fernandez misses out with a knee injury. Taking their places: Sam Clucas and Connor Roberts. Renato Sanches returns to the squad for the first time in three hamstrung months.
Chelsea are on a three-match winning streak, so they don’t mess about with the formula too much. Cup goalkeeper Willy Caballero makes way for regular netminder Thibaut Courtois, while Tiemoue Bakayoko takes Willian’s place.
Updated
The teams
Swansea City: Fabianski, Naughton, van der Hoorn, Roberts, Mawson, Olsson, Andre Ayew, King, Ki, Clucas, Jordan Ayew.
Subs: Britton, Dyer, Nordfeldt, Carroll, Routledge, Rangel, Sanches.
Chelsea: Courtois, Azpilicueta, Cahill, Rudiger, Moses, Fabregas, Kante, Bakayoko, Emerson, Hazard, Giroud.
Subs: Caballero, Barkley, Morata, Pedro, Zappacosta, Willian, Christensen.
Referee: Jonathan Moss (County Durham).
Updated
Good evening, south Wales!
We’re not quite at the stage of the season where everything is on the line. But it’s close enough to make little or no difference. Tonight at the Liberty, Swansea City go in search of three points they so badly need in their battle against relegation. Their opponents Chelsea meanwhile are desperate for victory themselves, to maintain their hope of Champions League football next season. It’s all set up rather deliciously ... especially in the wake of Liverpool’s failure to see off Stoke City earlier this afternoon. It’s on!
Kick off: 5.30pm BST.
Updated
